5.12 Million cars recalled in south korea: A ₹100,000 crore recall crisis!

Seoul (The Uttam Hindu): The number of vehicles voluntarily recalled by automakers in South Korea has reached an all-time high this year, with nearly 80 percent of the recalls attributed to the domestic automotive giant, Hyundai Motor Group, as reported by traffic authorities on Sunday. A total of 5.12 million units across 1,684 different models were recalled due to defects, according to the Korea Road Traffic Authority. Hyundai Motor and Kia together accounted for 4.07 million units, representing 79.2 percent of the total. This figure exceeds last year's 1.69 million recalled units and also breaks the previous record of 3.25 million units set in 2022, according to Yonhap news agency. The recalls were primarily driven by manufacturing defects in several popular models from Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., both part of Hyundai Motor Group. "Since many of the recalls involved popular models, the overall volume naturally increased," said an official from the agency. Electric vehicles (EVs) also saw a significant rise this year, with more than 1.2 million units recalled, surpassing the 707,088 units recalled in 2021 and 187,560 units in 2020. In March, Hyundai and Kia announced a voluntary recall of nearly 170,000 EVs to address a software error, marking one of the largest single recall cases for EV models to date.

Earlier this month, Hyundai Motor, BMW Korea, and three other carmakers voluntarily recalled nearly 300,000 vehicles due to faulty components. The five companies, including Kia Corp., Honda Korea, and Mercedes-Benz Korea, are recalling a total of 298,721 units across 84 different models. Last month, Kia, Ford Sales and Service Korea, and two other carmakers voluntarily recalled more than 58,000 vehicles due to faulty components. The four companies, including Renault Korea Motors and Stellantis Korea, are recalling a total of 58,180 units across five different models, as reported by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. Stellantis, a 50:50 joint venture established in 2021 through the merger of U.S. automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and French automaker PSA Groupe, sells Jeep and Peugeot models in Korea.